The invention relates generally to the field of merchandising displays for promotional articles or product. More particularly, the invention concerns a method of replenishing articles in a modular merchandising display and a modular merchandising display that can be easily replenished or refilled with product at the retailers thus eliminating the need for multiple packaging steps, cumbersome shipping and associated additional expense.
A variety of promotional displays exist for merchandising product, e.g., photographic film rolls, in a retail environment. Most common is the use of temporary merchandising displays often made from corrugated paperboard material, which comes to the retailer pre-stocked with product. These temporary merchandising displays are generally conveniently positioned on the retail floor and product contained therein is directly withdrawn by the consumer until all is depleted. Once the temporary merchandising display is empty of product, it is typically discarded and replaced with a new pre-filled temporary display unit.
Typical examples of prior art temporary merchandising displays are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,251,753 by Pigott et al, titled xe2x80x9cCombined Product Shipping And Display Unit,xe2x80x9d Oct. 12, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,324 by Miller, titled xe2x80x9cShipping Carton And Display Unit For Tubes,xe2x80x9d Dec. 1, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,934 by Reiner, titled xe2x80x9cDisplay Package,xe2x80x9d Mar. 14, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,624 by Clacerano, titled xe2x80x9cModular Promotional Display,xe2x80x9d May 2, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,99 by Neuman et al., titled xe2x80x9cCombined Shipping and Presentation Package,xe2x80x9d Mar. 15, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,203 by Klawiter et al., titled xe2x80x9cContainer For Shipping And Displaying Of Product,xe2x80x9d Jun. 9, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,953 by Polvere, titled xe2x80x9cCombination Shipping Carton and Display Stand Formed With Insert Panels And Shelves. Each of these displays is adaptable to be used as a shipping carton for shipping merchandise and a display for displaying the merchandise. In some of the displays, such as the ones described in U.S. Patents ""991, ""324, and ""753, additional conversion elements or steps are required to convert the package into a suitable merchandising display.
It is well known in the packaging industry that temporary merchandising displays of the sort described above have generally complex designs and structures. Moreover, such merchandising displays are not usually assembled or filled automatically at the point of manufacture or packaging of the product.
The skilled artisan in the art of merchandising displays and product shipment is aware that it is a major shortcoming of the rather typical process that the pre-filled merchandising displays are generally bulky, heavy, costly, and difficult to stock and then ship.
Therefore, a need persists in the art for a modular merchandising display that is simple, convenient for the retailer to stock and display product, and cost effective to implement.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a replenishable merchandising display that can be efficiently replenished at the retail location.
Another object of the invention is to provide a replenishable merchandising display fabricated from structurally durable materials that enables considerably longer use.
To achieve these and other objects and advantages of the invention, a replenishable merchandising display comprises:
an upright standing, substantially rigid frame comprising a plurality of product compartments, each one of said plurality of product compartments having a top wall and an opposed bottom wall defining a base, and opposed side walls each being adjoined to a rear wall, and said opposed side walls exposing an opening to receive and access at least one generally polygonal-shaped modular receptacle; and
said at least one generally polygonal-shaped modular receptacle being removably stored in one of said plurality of product compartments, said at least one generally polygonal-shaped modular receptacle accommodating a predetermined quantity of sales unit of a product.
The present invention has the following advantages over prior art developments: cost effectiveness; increased product replenishing efficiency; reduced inventory for the retailer; elimination of multiple packaging steps and associated waste of packaging materials; and, elimination of the shipment of filled merchandising displays and the associated risk of loss.